Hold Onto Me
by Reginald Kastle
Summary: {zexal rarepair challenge} Some things never leave you. Rio, Ryouga. {post canon}


"I cannot believe you managed this."

She trusted him; trusted him with this one tiny thing because he's never let her down before, and splitting the responsibility between the two of them seemed the most efficient – she'd organized the transport which had gotten them there without a hitch, only to find this as her surprise.

"You act like I meant to do this." Ryouga snaps, eyes darting around the small apartment before them, lips curling in disgust as he toes at the mess splayed over the floor in front of them. "This looks nothing like what it showed online, and y'know, I thought it would at least be _cleaned_ or something." A sigh leaves him in a desperate attempt to calm himself down; frustration is running high within him because he _knows_ it's his fault and it takes endless choruses of _it's just for the night just put up with it, it's only one night_ to even get him to take another breath to keep himself from simply storming out and going home. He wants to so badly, and it's at the point where he's sure Rio would feel the exact same, but the effort they both put in coming back to Heartland City after ten years just for Yuma and Kotori's wedding has them both reluctant to leave.

She's wandered away, nose crinkling at the smell wafting from the floor and he has no idea where she could have gone in such a small space. It only takes walking through one more door before he finds her, eyes wide and disappointment reeking from her as her eyebrow raises and lazily drapes her finger in the direction of the room.

"So, are you taking the couch, or am I?"

As soon as his eyes meet the small, single bed that is the only object in the room, a groan falls from his lips and he storms from the room.

* * *

Screams tear him from his sleep.

At first he's sure that they're his own and covers his mouth instinctively; the last thing he wants is to wake Rio with his nightmares of times that a part of him just wants to forget and the other refuses to let him. It's been ages since he's had a dream like this and he thought his mind had finally left him alone, but the return to the city that brought all of this pain to them probably just sparked the memories, right?

Only he realizes far too late that it's obviously not him screaming as the wail stops and starts suddenly, chopped cries of anguish that are not coming from his closed lips and _oh no_.

He's gone from the couch and into the bedroom within a second, breaths held as he does his best to control his breathing; she writhes and bends under the nightmare, wet sheen layering her forehead as she tosses and turns. Her mind is locked in her nightmare, and the last time he was forced to watch her in this much pain hits him like de ja vu, flattening him and though he couldn't do anything then, with her so lost in a world he could never reach; but it's different now, he knows what to do, how to help her and though he didn't know how to reach her then, but a power that's hidden inside him flares to life and controls him, quiet footsteps echoing through the darkened room as he darts to her side.

Fingers lace together as he pulls her to him, free hand stroking at the blue strands stuck to her face until the screaming stops, softening to whines and as a small _Ryouga_, _Ryouga I'm sorry_ mumbles from her lips, he encases her close and protects her as best as he can.

"I'm here, I'm here. It's going to be okay." Mumbles of reassurance falls from his lips as gentle fingers caress her shaking figure; her grip on his hand tightens so quickly a cry of pain shoots through him without permission but he swallows it, swallows the pain that she's had to swallow her entire life and it takes minutes, hours of soothing – time means nothing to them, only her safety – and the grip finally relaxes upon him, breaths evening out and she sinks into the embrace, letting the protection of her brother finally chase the memories away and letting her sleep again.

He guesses that he should return to the couch but leaving her seems so wrong; her quiet breaths are reassuring when he now knows that he'll never be able to get back to sleep because the memories seep through his mind, poisoning and swallowing every coherent thought he has. But her kind hands, her warmth hidden behind shades of cold is so reassuring that he relaxes into the embrace himself, eyes fluttering shut and letting the comfort that he's missed for so long overwhelm him until sleep finally consumes him once more.

* * *

When she wakes the next morning, she's alone and Ryouga's brooding, wondering why it's taken so long for them to leave.


End file.
